Uniqlo Looks to the Rouble as It Opens First Shop in Moscow

Uniqlo, part of Fast Retailing (#41 on our Most Innovative Companies list), is heading for Russia. The Japanese company that boasts Jil Sander alongside great jeans and cheap cashmere is to open up another store to go with the 918 it already has worldwide, in the Atrium shopping center, in Moscow. The brand will have 1,200 square meters at its disposal when the space opens, on April 2.

Earlier this month, the firm switched its recycling campaign, which allows Japanese consumers to recycle their unwanted Uniqlo threads at stores from biannually, in March and September, to all year round. The clothes were sent to refugee and IDP camps in Asia and Africa, and disaster victims worldwide. Let's hope this initiative spreads to the 125 stores dotted around the rest of the world.

My writing career has taken me all round the houses over the past decade and a half--from grumpy teens and hungover rock bands in the UK, where I was born, via celebrity interviews, health, tech and f…